So then, this weekend? We have Fedor vs Bader as headliner, with the likes of Pico and Jack Hager on the undercard. Bit of a shame that Mousasi pulled out, but it still should be a main card.
Reminds me a bit of an early 2010s Strikeforce show.

If memory serves correctly, Aldo had a torrid final round against Hominick. But aye, I do recall that he coasted in the fight round against Lamas. I just feel that the Holloway we have seen in recent years has shown to be more impressive against similar level competition. It was more of a struggle for Jose over the full fight. Fine margins.
A lot of people wanted Florian to beat Aldo and escape the nearly man tag. They wanted another Rampage vs Griffin moment. However, I could never really get invested in Florian one way or another. He was always a decent addition to a card. But he was not someone I actively supported or thought much about. Nevertheless, I don't remember him giving Aldo much bother. I do think Florian was a good fighter. He beat a lot of very good fighters at 155lbs. But he always came up short against the division's best.

There were nights where Aldo looked like the absolute business. I think back to his 2nd win over Edgar, his first round knockout of Mendes and his WEC run. However, there were also nights where while his performance was excellent, he did look beatable. Mendes took him to the wire in their rematch, and he clung on to a slim lead in the first fight with Edgar.
He occasionally had the tendency to fade in bouts. That's why I think the current version of Holloway is better than any version of Aldo. It's true that Max also gives away rounds. Aldo himself arguably won rounds against him in both of their fights. But the Max we have seen in recent years doesn't seem to fade like Aldo did on occasions. This means that Max can finish fights in the middle rounds, which is something that Aldo struggled to do in the UFC. Aldo's opponents often had more success as the fight wore on.
Nevertheless, Aldo is without question an all-time great and in the top 5 MMA fighters below 155lbs. Whatever you may think of him, Mighty Mouse is almost certainly the number 1 in that category. Then you have a cluster of other fighters who you could rank behind him at number 2. These include Aldo, Cruz, Max and TJ. Out of those, there is certainly a case to be made for Aldo based on his record, title reign and longevity.
As for the McGregor rivalry. I cannot deny that some of the criticism pointed towards Aldo was moronic. But dear god that rivalry was one hell of a ride.

I think both theories can be correct. The selection of Royce was beneficial for selling the system. And it also allowed them to keep Rickson in reserve. As a "secret weapon" as you put it.
But fuck knows with the Gracies.

I will concede this to a degree.
He would have continued to score wins in Pride in the 2000s. They would have booked him in squash matches between pitting him with legit fighters like Kondo, Yoshida, Newton, and Sakuraba. He might have beaten those three or at least taken them to a draw. But there is a chance that one of them would have caught him out.
Rickson was listed at 185lbs. So I presume he would have eventually fought the likes of Misaki, Filho, and Hendo as the 2000s rolled along. That's where I think the losses would have started to mount up.

It's true that the Gracie clan chose Royce because they wanted to show that a man of modest size and stature could rip through the field merely by being skilled in the Gracie system. It was the right decision. However, MMA caught up to the Gracie's quite quickly. Severn and Shamrock gave Royce all sorts of problems at UFC 4 and 5 respectively. Royce was very lucky to escape those bouts without a loss on his record.
There is an argument that Rickson was preserved to keep the "Gracie myth" alive. If say Frank Shamrock or Wanderlei Silva had beaten Rickson in the early 2000s, then that would have been the end of the myth. It would have proven that the Gracie system wasn't the ultimate fighting system, so to speak. Rickson would have been beaten on skill, not size. Rickson was therefore carefully protected to ensure that the Gracie clan could save face.
Rickson became a bit of a joke on forums by the mid-2000s. He used to tell anyone who would listen that he would have no problem beating Cro Cop and Fedor. But really, no one knew quite how legit he was. My take is that he would have allowed the Gracies to stay ahead of the game a bit longer than Royce did. But eventually, he would have been caught out, and it would have been downhill from there.

Canelo vs Callum Smith?
But I presume that AJ vs Whyte will go ahead as planned.
I watched bits of the Pavlik interview. It's been a while since Pavlik has crossed my mind. So a lot of the information that he revealed was fresh, even though I probably read about it at the time. I thought he was older than 36 as well.

As much as I dislike Jones as a person, I do enjoy watching him fight. He's not always the most exciting fighter to watch, but he's such a talent. I was the same with GSP when he was in his prime. Some hated watching him grapplefuck his opponent or jab their head off for 25 minutes. But I enjoyed it because he was such a master of his craft (the Hardy and Shields fights aside)
Thus, Jones will always have my attention when he fights. Whether it's a squash match or not. But there are certainly fights that I want to see him in more than others. Miocic and Lesnar are the two I really want to see him in with. Miocic because I think it could be somewhat competitive. Lesnar for the spectacle.

I mostly agree.
Nevertheless, the Twitter exchanges between the two over Christmas, and the UFC's obvious enthusiasm for the rivalry, probably means that they are going to fight again. I could stomach them fighting at Heavyweight, That's a new spin on the rivalry and would raise a new set of questions because Jones has never fought at heavyweight. But another clash at 205lbs does nothing for me. DC would need to fight the perfect fight to win. Which is very difficult to do against a shrewd fighter like Jones who has talent to spare.
The most interesting fights involving Jones and Khabib are the ones that make little business sense. For example, I would be well up for Jones vs Miocic. Or Khabib vs Tony. But they are unlikely to happen because there are duller but more profitable fights to be made.
This is nothing new of course. No one who was really into MMA was intrigued by Ortiz and Shamrock's third meeting in 2006. Everyone who followed MMA properly knew what the outcome was going to be. But Zuffa had just enough justification to make the fight and pop a decent TV rating in the process. But still, I can't say the route that the UFC are likely to take with their most prominent fighters is one that I am anticipating.
I really hope we at least get Brock vs Jones/DC.

ESPN are doing a 30 for 30 on Tito and Chuck's rivalry.
I recall the documentary the UFC made on their rivalry from years ago. Dana unsurprisingly came across as the most bitter of the three men involved.